Colourful illustration of a tenor saxophone, with bursts of colour coming from the bell

Music

my practice (and how i got there)

A little bit of information of what I do as a musician and how I got there.

Exploration and reinvention

As a musician I am always exploring. It’s part of my nature to choose very varying projects to work on, stick with it until it’s how I want it, then move on to something entirely different. Currently this means that I’m working on arranging and creating own music. The past year I have started to work with live electronics and I’m loving the creation process. 

I’m an intuitive player – I play what comes to me and if I like it, I stick to it. This goes for ‘traditional’ classical music – for as far we can speak of that in the world of classical saxophone – but especially for contemporary genres. In my new concert program that will premiere in 2022 I combine new saxophone music with my personal explorations into developing my own material (including personal visual art!). 

My previous project “For Since a Woman” set the baby steps toward this new program, with music of only female composers. I included personal reworks of hymns of Hildegard von Bingen (one of the earliest composers we have sheet music of!) with sax and electronics. Check out my YouTube channel and listen for yourself.

A little more back in time...

My musical studies have been varied and haven’t always been limited to just conservatory education. In fact, I started with a Liberal Arts degree (University College Roosevelt, Middelburg) where I took courses in musicology and educational sciences, but also some computer sciences and art history (and for some reason, economics. We don’t talk about economics.)

A little more back in time? I was born in 1997 in Oost-Souburg, Zeeland, the Netherlands. When I was seven years old I started with recorder lessons, and after two years of happy squeaks I decided to switch to the saxophone. I say ‘decided’, but my mum picked saxophone for me because I literally could not distinguish a trumpet from a french horn. Luckily, it was a good choice 🙂 

I took lessons at the local music school and happily continued making a lot of noise on the saxophone. As a teenager I met Andreas van Zoelen, with whom I subsequently studied during my years at university, and with whom I later also did my Bachelor of Music. Currently I am broadening my musical perspectives with a Master of Music.

Arrangements

Some of my projects are also available to others. Here is a small selection of arrangements that you can either buy or get for free. If you want any information on acquiring scores that don’t have a download link, drop me a message!Â